Saturday - February 15, 2003
This morning was
my first morning in Taipei where I didn't go to the memorial for a long time. I
figured I'd get enough pictures at the festival itself.
Instead, Chu-Wan, Michelle and I took
the opportunity presented by another lovely day's weather to head to Tamshui to
walk around the waterfront.
On the way back from Tamshui, I happened to
look up at the Kuandu station. I remember on a previous trip my attempts to
find a large park near the Kuandu station but it eluded me in a rabbit's warren
of small streets.
At the time, the map I used was unclear as to what was
there and when I arrived at the military base, I was convinced that the green
park-like area on the map must have been the base. I checked my indispensable
subway map (having purchased a replacement one at Eslite the other evening) and
saw that there is indeed a Kuandu Nature Park near the station. I think Monday
I shall try once again to find it. This time I have a better map of the area
and should be able to.
The lantern was scheduled to be lit at 7:00PM, so
we left the house about 5:00PM, despite the memorial only being a 20 minute
walk away. We did this so we'd have a little extra time before the show to look
around eat and we wanted to stop at an electronics store where I had previously
seen a Japanese toilet seat for sale.
Japanese toilet seats are the
end-all to be-all of crapper hygiene. The really advanced ones have remote
controls, male and female cleaning sprays, adjustable water and seat
temperature and sanitary disinfectant spray. I'm not too clear on what the
remote control is for.
The one we're looking at only has the dual spray
jets, adjustable pressure, seat and water temperature controls, but it's "only"
$280, which is quite reasonable compared to what it costs to get one in the
States. If I get one, I'll have to start charging guests at my home to use the
toilet.
After looking at the
toilet, we headed to the festival. According to the paper, there would be more
than just Chinese food at the food stalls, this year having added International
cuisine. International cuisine turned out to be corn dogs and shawarma... which
was fine with me. Minutes after eating my dinner, Chu-Wan's parents called to
tell us we were going to dinner with them and the Huang 2s after the festival.
We told them to go on without us and we'd meet them later.
The lantern
festival's mythical origins involve the greater powers of heaven deciding to
destroy the earth in fire. Some enterprising fellow came up with the idea of
lighting lanterns to fool the gods into thinking that the earth had already
been destroyed, thus saving the world. My suspicion is that the enterprising
fellow who came up with the idea owned a lantern shop.
The whole of
Taipei appeared to be at the festival (everyone but Chu-Wan's parents and the
Huang 2s) and I was certainly the tallest person there. Standing in the middle
of a crowd of thousands of people, I stood over the heads of everyone else
except the occasional other waiguoren standing elsewhere in the crowd
looking out of the sea of heads. I certainly had the best view of everybody
there. Virtually all of the people had to stand at ground level with no risers
to make viewing easier. I pity the poor guys standing behind me. Perhaps
they'll get a shirt that says "I went to the Taipei 2003 Lantern Festival and
all I saw was the back of a waiguoren's head."
The ram horns turned out to be more of
a light show projector than a lantern. After the mayor of Taipei got up and
made a speech, the show began. The horns shot laser beams into the air, had
jets of flame and fireworks and dancers (small children in lamb outfits) danced
up and down the stairs.
It was impossible for me to get to my two set
positions to get my standard photos of the scene. In the next few days, when
the crowds die down, I'll go back and get my final shots.
All-in-all it
was an entertaining show, considering it was free. Of course, it wasn't free to
the taxpayers of Taipei, but that's another story.
In a way, the other
lanterns were more interesting, and we only managed to check out the front
musical goats and the corporate sponsor lanterns along Aiguo road.
Tomorrow or the next day we'll go back and see the award-winning contest
lanterns.
We had to go meet up with Chu-Wan's parents because the
apparently would not leave the restaurant until we joined them so we moved
against the tide of people until we were free. They didn't want us to go to the
Lantern Festival at all, but I'd be damned if after all those days waiting for
this I'd miss if for another 2 hour meal where I have nothing to do but sit on
my thumbs.
At
the dinner, they'd left a couple bites of food for us. It was a shame we had
already eaten before we knew about dinner because they had a beef dish, which
was pretty much just roast beef, and was pretty tasty. It was also a shame that
the three bites left were ice cold by the time we got there.
Chu-Wan's
parents also want us to give up the idea of going to Taichung to see the
main lantern there. I really want to see it, but considering the time remaining
and the schedule of events being planned for us, it's looking very unlikely
we'll go.
I held off until after the Huang 2s had left and had Chu-Wan
call Domino's for a pizza. Apparently, even on a Saturday night in Taipei,
Domino's closes before midnight. Another thwarted effort! What is it with this
place?!
Associated Links
Taipei
Times article on today's activities
Toilet Cleaning Count
| Kuting |
Did not check |
| Tamshui |
No - but looked like it had never been cleaned.
This is very unusual for a Taipei Metro station bathroom. |
| Tamshui |
No - still nasty |
| Kuting |
Yes |
|
|
